Ryan Pace is joining the Minnesota Vikings as a football advisor – a hire that lands two weeks after Nolan Teasley was named the team’s new general manager and signals a deliberate push to stack experience around a first-time GM.
ESPN‘s Kevin Seifert reported the move, framing Pace as a GM-level sounding board rather than a decision-maker. This is not a power grab. This is insurance.
Pace Joining Vikings As Football Advisor
Pace spent six seasons as Chicago Bears GM from 2015 to 2021, posting a 48-65 record with two playoff appearances before parting ways with the organization.
He followed that tenure with four seasons in the Atlanta Falcons front office, rising to VP of football operations and player personnel before a front-office restructuring led to a mutual parting in February 2026.
His advisory role in Minnesota carries no roster authority – Teasley holds final say over the 53-man roster, per co-owner Mark Wilf.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was fired as Vikings GM on January 30 after Minnesota collapsed from 14 wins to a 9-8 record that missed the playoffs entirely.
Rob Brzezinski, a Vikings employee since 1999, managed football operations through the draft before Teasley‘s hire was formalized on May 30. Brzezinski remains the team’s contract negotiator and cap analyst, reporting directly to Teasley.
Ownership Sets the Chain of Command
“Teasley and head coach Kevin O’Connell will both report directly to ownership, with Teasley having final say over the 53-man roster.”
Mark Wilf made that structure explicit on June 4, leaving no ambiguity about where authority sits. Pace operates outside that reporting chain – an advisor without portfolio, not a shadow GM. The setup protects Teasley‘s decision-making autonomy while giving him access to two-plus decades of front-office pattern recognition.
Pace’s Track Record – the Full Picture
Pace‘s Bears tenure is the most dissected part of his résumé, and for good reason.
He drafted Mitchell Trubisky second overall in 2017 – passing on Patrick Mahomes in the process – and signed Mike Glennon to a three-year, $45 million deal the same offseason.
The quarterback ledger is brutal by any measure. The Bears are still rebuilding around the assets those decisions cost, as recent roster construction moves in Chicago continue to reflect that long shadow.
The complete picture is more complicated than the Trubisky narrative suggests, though. Pace orchestrated the Khalil Mack trade in 2018 – sending two first-rounders to the Raiders and signing Mack to a six-year, $141 million deal – which produced a 12-4 season and an NFC North title.
He also hit on Roquan Smith, Eddie Jackson, David Montgomery, and Jaylon Johnson. The talent evaluation floor was higher than the quarterback decisions implied.
Analytical Verdict
The probability framing here sits around 60/40 in favor of this being a net positive for Minnesota. Teasley arrives from 12 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, including three years as assistant GM – he is not inexperienced.
But he has never run a full roster cycle as the lead decision-maker. Pace has done exactly that in a pressure market, and his mistakes are well-documented enough that Teasley can learn from them without repeating them.
This is not a vote of no confidence in Teasley. This is what experienced ownership looks like – surrounding a new GM with institutional knowledge while keeping the authority structure clean.
The Vikings dropped five wins year over year. The margin for another soft rebuild is gone.
What to Watch Next
Teasley‘s first major extension decisions and 2027 draft strategy will be the earliest indicators of how much Pace‘s fingerprints show up on the roster.
Any aggressive pass-rush trade or significant quarterback move will draw immediate scrutiny given Pace‘s known tendencies in Chicago. Minnesota and Chicago media are already watching the same pressure point – whether the advisor’s boldest instincts travel north with him.
